Roaches and other insects have plagued mankind throughout history. They compete for food, soil food and other products with their waste, spread disease, and in general are destructive to the products and habitats that people utilize.
Over the years many ways have been devised to eliminate these creatures, and one of the most popular methods is to spread an insecticide in an area that the insect might crawl over and thereby poison it.
This of course also subjects non target species to possible contact with the insecticide and can lead to the contamination of food and surface that could be harmful to humans.
Another methods is to present a poisoned bait or foodstuff that is attractive to the insect and once again, by inducing the insect to eat the food, poison and kill it.
These methods have proven to be very effective, however insects tend to build immunities to insecticides when they are used over an extended period of time, thereby limiting the effectiveness of poisoned baits.
When areas are sprayed with poison, the insect must travel over a prescribed distance in order to allow enough of the insecticide to impinge upon the insect and kill it.
Since most insects travel in random patterns, the target insect may not in fact crawl over the treated area, or may not stay on a treated area long enough for the insecticide to take effect.
This can add to the resistance that insects build up after prolonged use of insecticides, and this resistance can be carried from generation to generation.
Additionally, in traveling, most insects will skirt a raised area, and prefer to travel in lines that present the least possible resistance to their travel paths.
The use of treated containment devises that present even marginal barriers to their travel can result in the insect passing the areas entirely, and following an alternative path, that has not been treated with the toxins.
And, many insects such as roaches prefer small, tight spaces that afford them some degree of protection, and will thereby avoid large openings or clear spaces in their search for food, harborage and water.
Taken into consideration in the development of the instant invention are certain basic characteristics of common insect species such as the cockroach.
These insects, which have a tendency to be vertically geotrophic in nature, and have a natural propensity to climb walls in their search for food and harborage, are best eliminated by a device that can be affixed tp such a vertical surface, and at the same time which can provide an environment that draws roaches into its interior which has been treated by an insecticide.
Additionally, the body of a roach is exoskeletal, which allows it to compress itself into extremely tight spaces that would normally by to small for other insects to travel through.
There are over 450 species of cockroach, and they can vary in size from adults that are over 3/8 inches in height to those that are less then 5 cm in height and most species of roach feel most comfortable when they find themselves in areas in which their entire body is in contact with the surrounding surfaces.
Additionally, roaches in the nymph stages can compress their bodies into spaces as tight as 5 microns high, and therefore a device that provides not only harborage, but that allows a family of roaches of varying height to enter is extremely desirable.
Also, being communal in nature, the roach is most likely lured into a surrounding that would provide an interior with a width that would become progressively smaller as the roaches entered, and could support dozens of their kind, but such a device also being of limited height to insure the feeling of security that contact with their entire outer shell would also provide.
And, by providing such a progressively smaller opening as the roach breached the device and traveled to its interior, we would add assurance that an entire colony, both young and adult, would enter the device and be poisoned.
The width of the device would then be defined by the range of possible varying sizes of roaches to be lured and destroyed, and the interior height would be defined by the variation of the species, which can reasonably be expected to range between 0.002 and one half inch in height.
A flared entrance would provide room for several roaches to enter at one time, and a ramp from the point of entrance to the poison containment area would allow the roaches to enter from a plane that was in direct contact with the exterior surface, and then lead up to a poison containment area without providing any obstacle or impedance for the roach as it traversed that device.
This construction would allow the maximum number of insects to enter and to commit themselves to a path, that in the case of contact insecticides, would insure a maximum kill.
Additionally, by providing the device with a method of exterior adhesion to a vertical surface, the efficacy of the device could be dramatically increased and the killing potential of the device greatly improved.
Also taken into consideration in the construction and design of the device is the need to prevent the insecticides contained therein from migrating from the position it has been originally applied, to to the exterior of the trap and into possible contact with non target species.
Since the viscosity of insecticides can vary greatly and their characteristics differ significantly relative to their ability to hold position after application, an interior designed with varying methods of insuring the stability of the insecticide applied therein is highly desirable.
This is demonstrated in the instant invention by the varied use of grooves that run in contradiction to the openings and insure that a viscous substance or gel material will remain stabilized and in place as heat and humidity change, even if the device has been placed vertically against a wall.
Or, in the use of a wick delivery system that provides a stable platform for the application of liquid insecticide under the same conditions.
Or, impregnation of the actual plastic that the device has been constructed of to provide a stable base of application under adverse conditions.
And finally, conventional coating of the interior in conditions that are highly stable and are not subject to radical changes in the surrounding environment.
Over the years several patent have been granted for insect traps or poison containment devices and these are demonstrated in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.; 4,563,836-Woodruff et al-Jan. 14, 1986, class 43/131, 4,228,613-Kalnasy et al-10/1980 class 43/131, 3,899,080-Brunda -8/1975 class 206/820X, 4,160,335-Von Kohron et al-Jul. 10 1979, class 43/131, Kirk-4,807,392-Feb. 28, 1989, class 43/131, McMullen-4,217,722-Aug. 19, 1980, class 43/131, Karifiol-2,138,926, Dec. 6, 1939, class 43/131, Andric-4,709,504-Dec. 1, 1987, class 43/131, Davies-4,423,564-Jan. 3, 1984 class 43/131, Cohen 4,819,371- Apr. 11, 1989, class 43/131 and Weil 2,328,590-Sept. 7 1943, class 43/131.
While these inventions advanced the state of the art in poison containment and delivery, they were deficient in that they did not take into consideration the travel habits of insects such as the roach, they did not provide ease of access for the insects by being flush with the surrounding surfaces, they did not provide for inherent methods of mounting the device to vertical surfaces, they did not provide limited interior heights to insure contact with the insects body, they did not provide varying methods of holding an insecticide in place under adverse conditions, the did not provide a method of funnelling numerous insects into a confined poison containment area and, did not provide a environment that was naturally attractive to a wide variety of crawling insects.
The instant invention deals with all of these problems, insures that the insect will be subjected to the proper dosage of insecticide, and that the target insect will be provided with an attractive harborage that entices it to its demise.
Additionally, the instant invention provides a safe and effective, low cost method of placing insecticides in areas that might be in proximity to children, pets or wildlife.
Further, the instant invention provides a flush entrance, leading to a poisoned chamber, that allows the target insect ease of entry and egress, and insures that it will not be encumbered as it travels in search of food and harborage.
And, the instant invention has a limited height, that insures contact with the poisoned surfaces contained therein, while having a flared opening to entice several insects to enter at the same time, thereby insuring the demise of the maximum number of target species present.
Further, the invention can be mounted to a vertical surface, and through the use of varying interior surfaces, doses the insect with an appropriate insecticide for the conditions of the surrounding environment, while preventing migration of the insecticide to exterior surfaces.
And, the invention will provide a poisoned chamber that is sufficiently distant from the exterior entrances and egress portals to minimize the risk to non target species, and to insure that the insecticide will not be removed by normal cleaning operation such was washing or dusting.
These and other novel and unique features of the instant invention will become apparent in the following description, and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.